Toy building-block.



A. n. CONVERSE TOY BUILDING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, Hilfi- Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Fig.5,

manta r rlanfi. Convcrs ATHER'ION D. CONVERSE, 0F WINGHENDON,MASSACHUSETTS.

TOY BUILDING-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed March 29, 1916. serial No. 88,163.

To aZZcv/wm it may concern.

Be it known that I, ATHnn'roN D. CON- vnnsn, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of Winchendon, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Toy Building-Blocks, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to toy building blocks and has for its object theproduction of a device of this character which will be inexpensive tomake, and which cannot be easily chipped.

Another object of the present invention is to produce a device of thecharacter described, the surface of which will be smooth to the touch.

A further object of the invention is to provide the various faces of theblock with different pictorial representations.

The invention consists of an open-ended tubular member filled withcementitious material, and having its outer faces provided with designsrepresenting various kinds of building material.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand arrangement of parts which will be fully under stood by reference tothe description of the drawings and to the claims hereinafter given.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a tubular member used in theconstruction of a block embodying the principles of the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of one face thereof.

Fig. 8 represents a side elevation of another face thereof.

Fig. 4; represents an end view of the same when filled with cementitiousmaterial.

Fig. 5 represents a longitudinal section of the same on line 5-5 on Fig.4.

Fig. 6 represents a transverse section of the same on line 66 on Fig. 5.

Fig. 7' represents a longitudinal section of a portion of one of thesides of said tubular member.

Fig. 8 represents a transverse section of the same.

Fig. 9 represents a plan of a portion of another side of said tubularmember, and

Fig. 10 represents a transverse section of the same.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figuresof the drawlngs.

In the drawings, 10 represents a tubular member perfectly square incross section. The various sides thereof are provided with pictorialrepresentations printed or lithographed thereon, for instance, the side11 has a representation thereon of a stone, the side 12 has arepresentation thereon of a plurality of shingles, the side 13 has arepresentation thereon of a plurality of bricks, and the side 14 has arepresentation thereon of a plurality of cobble stones.

One or more of the walls of said tubular member 10 is provided with oneor more outwardly extending projections 16, while the wall oppositethereto is provided with one or more depressions 17 formed in saidtubular member. The projections 16 are of a size that will fit into thedepressions 17 in the adjacent block. I

The tubular member 10 is formed'of a sheet of metal or some similarmaterial adapted to receive pictorial representations on the outer facesthereof. The ends 18 of said tubular member 10 are turned forwardlyto'form smooth edges. One end of the plate forming the tubular member 10is provided with an inwardly turned flange 19 adapted to enter aU-shaped flange 20 turned inwardly from the other edge of said plate, asindicated in the lower right end of Fig. 6 of the drawings. ThisU-shaped flange 20 and the coact-ing flange 19 are each provided with aplurality of openings 21 therethrough. then the tubular member 10 hasbeen formed as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the interior thereofis filled with a cementitious material 22 extending to the opposite endof said tubular member, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

The outer faces of the cementitious material 22 are smoothed Off in anywell-known manner. The inturned ends 18 formed upon the tubular member10 prevent the cementitious material contained within said tubularmember from moving endwise thereof. This endwise movement of thecementitious filling 22 is further prevented by means of the projections16 and depressions 17, as inclicated in said Fig. 5.

/Vhen the tubular member 10 has been filled with ceinentitious material,a portion thereof will enter the openings 21 in the flanges 19 and 20and lock these flanges together so that the side wall 14: cannot moverelatively to the side wall 13.

Heretofore, toy building blocks of this character have been made ofartificial stone and have been liable to chip and become easily broken.Moreover, in the construction of these toy building blocks from anartificial stone, the very finest material must be used in order toprovide as smooth a surface as possible, which makes the blocks veryexpensive. I

By constructing the blocks in the manner shown herein with a tubularenvelop of thin metal or other material, the cementitious filling 22 maybe of any cheap mate rial. As a consequence there is a great saving inthe expense of the construction of the lock and a still greater savin inthe time consumed in their manufacture, and a greatly improved blockresults the surface of which is smooth to the touch and cannot be easilybroken or chipped. Moreover, the edges are all smooth so that there inno danger of cutting the fingers of the child using the same.

Another great advantage of the present building block is the ability toprint or lithograph on the various side surfaces thereof representationsof different forms of building material so that in using the blocks agranite building may be constructed, a building the walls of which areof brick, or formed of cobble stones, or one which has the appearance ofbeing shingled.

While in the drawings a block is shown having three projections 16, itis obvious that longer or shorter blocks may be constructed in a similarmanner, as desired. While for convenience the metal envelop or covering10 is shown of considerable thickness, in practice this plate will be ofvery thin metal.

It is believed that the many advantages of this invention will be fullyunderstood from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A toy building block comprising a tube of thin material filled with acementitious material and having its ends turned inwardly to form smoothcorners at opposite ends of said block whereby said block is renderedsafe for handling by children.

2. A toy building block comprising a tube of thin material filled with acementitious material and having its opposite edges in turned andconnected at one corner to form a smooth joint whereby said block isrendered safe for handling by children.

3. A toy building block consisting of a sheet of thin material formedinto a tube with its edges overlapping and filled with cementitiousmaterial, said overlapping edges being provided with a plurality ofregistering openings through which said cementitious material is adaptedto enter and prevent the separation of said edges.

4. A toy building block comprising a tube of thin material filled withcementitious material and having at one corner an inturned U-shapedportion forming a groove parallel to one side and with one wall shorterthan the other and provided with a perforation therethrough, said tubebeing provided at its opposite edge with a flange perpendicular to theside portion to which it is attached, which flange is positioned in saidgroove and has a perforation therein registering with the perforation insaid shorter wall, with the inner face of said side portion bearingagainst the edge of said shorter wall.

Signed by me at Winchendon, Mass, this 23rd day of March, 1916.

ATHERTON D. CONVERSE.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR F. EVANS, J. F. WILKINsQN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

